Falcon Heights incumbents win spots back on the city council

Incumbents Pam Harris and Keith Gosline retained their spots on the council. According to unofficial results from last week’s election, Harris received roughly 46 percent of the votes and Gosline had roughly 39 percent, defeating challenger Michael Thomas who received about 14 percent of the total votes.

Harris, who has served on the council for eight years, and Gosline, who has served four, both said they’re looking forward to serving another term with their fellow councilmembers.

“Our council will stay stable and that will be a good thing,” Harris said. “We thrash out our issues but the bottom line is we are able to get through and nobody takes anything personally.”

Gosline agreed that during his time on the council he has seen the city council and city staff work cooperatively to accomplish many things.

“We’ve done a lot in the past four years,” Gosline said. “We don’t agree all the time, we agree 90 percent of the time though.”

Both Gosline and Harris said one of the most important things the city will continue to work on is encouraging residents to get involved in city government.

“We are always trying to make sure residents are participating in our city government as much as they can get to,” Harris said, noting that there are openings on city commissions.

“Inclusivity is a big thing for me,” Gosline said.

The reelected council members said other items the council will need to consider in the near future include purchasing a new fire truck to replace the city’s current one, which is over 20 years old, as well as street repairs and sewer projects.

Sustainability is an ongoing priority for the city of Falcon Heights, Harris and Gosline both noted, and the city will continue to look for ways to add environmentally-friendly practices. Harris said the city has been looking at the possibility of planting a “solar garden” somewhere in the city, and will continue to look for a good location to do so. Gosline added that the nonprofit CommonBond Communities plans to construct affordable housing on the site of the former Hermes Greenhouse with an urban garden and co-op -- something Gosline said he believes will be a great addition to the community.

Gosline noted that the city is considering ways to improve Curtiss Field Park so that it’s more useful for community members, and will also continue to focus on emergency preparedness so that residents remain safe.